Ondrej Pavelec's post-game presser broke hockey's code of 'team first' unity as he pinned the team's record on the play in front of him. Tough words to swallow from a goalie with back-up quality career stats.

Zone Entries

5 vs 5

Player

# of successful entries

Shots (From Entries)

Shots/Entry

Controlled Entries

Shots (Controlled Entries)

% With Control

% That Fail

4

Postma

0

0

N/A

0

0

N/A

N/A

5

Stuart

1

0

0.00

0

0

0%

N/A

9

Kane

13

7

0.54

6

3

46%

14.3%

12

Jokinen

3

2

0.67

2

2

67%

33.3%

14

Peluso

7

4

0.57

5

4

71%

0.0%

15

Halischuk

7

2

0.29

2

1

29%

0.0%

16

Ladd

6

2

0.33

3

1

50%

0.0%

17

Wright

4

3

0.75

1

1

25%

0.0%

18

Little

3

4

1.33

2

1

67%

33.3%

24

Clitsome

2

2

1.00

1

2

50%

0.0%

26

Wheeler

5

4

0.80

3

4

60%

0.0%

27

Tangradi

6

0

0.00

3

0

50%

0.0%

33

Byfuglien

2

0

0.00

0

0

0%

N/A

39

Enstrom

3

1

0.33

1

1

33%

0.0%

40

Setoguchi

6

1

0.17

2

1

33%

0.0%

44

Bogosian

1

0

0.00

0

0

0%

N/A

55

Scheifele

2

1

0.50

2

1

100%

50.0%

67

Frolik

8

3

0.38

6

3

75%

0.0%

TEAM

79

36

0.46

39

25

49%

11.4%

OPP

70

26

0.37

29

16

41%

29.3%

OZF

10

0

0.00

DZF

16

5

0.31

Observations

The fourth line, and Anthony Peluso in particular, had a very impressive night. For a group that quite regularly either starts in the O-zone or simply dumps the puck in simply for a line change, they were able to produce a fair number of shots and opportunities (including a nice wrap around goal from Peluso) on the night.

Wheeler was able to continue his impressive play of late, as he was a constant threat with the puck, chased it down a lot when he didn’t have it, and also was able to put one in.

Yet again, Evander Kane created the most quality and quantity on the night.

It is of some concern that the Jets weren’t able to manage a single shot on 10 offensive zone face offs. Regardless of the weak face off performance on the night, this indicates an inability to force the Preds into any mistakes with the puck in their own end. Thy have to be better than that. Especially with some of the young guys on the Preds back end.

Pavelec Performance

Really Ondrej? Really?!? On a regular basis, I find myself wondering if a player is going to mention a weak goal that Pavelec let in as a reason for lost momentum or a “let down” of some sort. Yet, of course, it doesn’t happen. It’s a team game, and you need to keep your mouth shut no matter what you think.

Therefore, I find it completely inexcusable that Ondrej would even consider hinting that the play in front of him hampers his performance. Following the game Pavelec seemed to be hinting quite strongly that the play in front of him, namely the turnovers, needed to be changed for this team to improve. I understand where he is coming from, but the way he said really rubbed not only myself, but also a few local media members on twitter the wrong way.

As a goaltender that is regularly below average, I don’t think Pav has any right to critique the play in front of him. More often than not, the team isn't the problem. You don’t hear any of the players criticizing Pav for the horrible rebound he kicked right out into the high slot. Pavelec really should be worrying less about what’s going on in front of him, and more on stopping and controlling the puck.

Goal

Situation

Why It Went In

Where It Went

1

Jets Penalty Kill

Beat Clean

Blocker

2

Average Play (Controlled ZE)

Rebound

Glove

3

Turnover

Beat Clean

Blocker

Quick Explanations

This is just an unfortunate event following a great play by Seth Jones to break up a Jets chance. Following a great stretch pass to Weber, the Jets are stuck back peddling, and Shea Weber simply rips the puck by Pav from the slot. Great shot in a spot Pavelec struggles to stop, 1-0 Preds.

Horrid rebound from Pav here. Mike Fisher throws a soft shot from the boards onto the net, and Pavelec quite literally kicks the puck out into the middle of the slot. Naturally none of the Jets are expecting such a result (heck, the first Predator fanned on it) and Patric Hornqvist, arriving late on the play, had a free crack at it. Pav not only over-compensates to his blocker side (I wonder why…), but he actually moves away from the puck as it goes by him, giving Nashville the lead again.

I’m not going to pretend that that wasn’t another horrid turnover. None of Clitsome, Kane or Byfuglien were really able to gain control of a bouncing puck, and it ends up right on Legwand’s stick. That being said, Pavelec put a really poor effort on this save. Just watch him. Legwand slides the puck over quite slowly, yet Pav drops to his knees early and very lazily pushes himself over, unable to take the short side away in time. Also worth noting, Kane was not in his way. Nor should a single guy in front be capable of completely screening an NHL goaltender.

Things to Watch

The Jets now head to Dallas to start back-to-back games this weekend against the Stars and Avalanche. Here are some things to watch for:

Who starts what game? You have to think Montoya will get one of these games. It’s just a matter of which one Claude chooses.

How will the team respond? I really hope some of these media members make a big deal out of Pavelec’s comments. I’m interested to see how the locker room will respond to him.

Will Byfuglien’s physical play continue? Buff was a monster on the ice tonight. He had at least three monstrous hits, and was a constant threat with the puck. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a game like that from the big guy, and I hope it keeps up.

Final Thought

The Jets power play needs to get it together. They managed a fair amount of zone time on the night, but again was unable to pot one. It’s now dropped to an UGLY 11.9% and is scoreless in 6 games. This needs fixing. Fast.

I write things, you read them. Then tend to yell at me for them. It's okay though, I'm from Winnipeg. I can take it. If you actually do like what I write, give me a twitter follow here (@thrubeniuk): https://twitter.com/thrubeniuk

Any chance that Buff's big game had anything to do with David Poile (the GM of the US Olympic team) being the Predators GM? I think it may be a factor. He can play physical and be a noticeable player when he wants to. He just doesn't want to most nights.